BASED ON THEORY OF MIES VAN DER ROHE -LESS IS MORE

1. T
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LESS IS MORE
AASHNA ARORA ARUNIMA GANGULI NIKITA BANSAL TANVI GUPTA I I I-A

2. GENERAL MEANING
LESS COMPLICATED IS BETTER UNDERSTOOD AND MORE
APPRECIATED THAN WHAT IS MORE COMPLICATED.
SIMPLICITY IS PREFERABLE TO COMPLEXITY.
ARCHITECTURAL MEANING
BUILDING SHOULD BE STRIPPED OF ANY EXTRAS AND
CONSTRUCTED ON ESSENTIALS OF CLARITY, UTILITY AND EFFECT.
•TO BASE THE ARCHITECTURAL
EXPRESSION ON ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
OF A STRUCTURE.
•LIKE FOR VAN DER ROHE THE
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS WERE THE
CLADDING AND STEEL FRAME WHICH
HE CALLED THE SKIN AND BONES OF A
STRUCTURE.
•ELIMINATE VISUAL CLUTTER.
•THIS WAS DONE BY SUPPRESSING THE
SECONDARY ELEMENTS LIKE …..OF A
BUILDINGS AND THERBY HEIGHTEN
THE VISUAL IMPACT OF A SPACE OR
VIEW.
FAMOUS ARCHITECT MIES VAN DER ROHE USED THIS PHRASE
TO DESCRIBE HOW HE THOUGHT BUILDINGS SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED.
INSPIRATIONS- THE PRUSSIAN ARCHITECT KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL, USE
OF POST AND LINTEL CONSTRUCTION,DUTCH DE STIJL PHILOSPHY OF
SIMPLICITY IN
ARCHITECTURE AND RUSSIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM TO BENEFIT SOCITY.
AIMS-ESTABILISHMENT OF A NEW ARCHITECTURAL STYLE FOR MODERN
TIMES AND ARCHITECTURE WITH A MINIMAL FRAMEWORK OF
STRUCTURAL ORDER BALANCED AGAINST THE IMPLIED FREEDOM OF FREE
FLOWING OPEN SPACES
SOURCES
•SIMPLE VOLUMES
• BALANCE BETWEEN EMPTY AND
FILLED SPACE.
SHIMADA HOUSE DESIGNED
BY A.L.X TOKYO
GARDEN AND SEA WEEK-END HOUSE
DESIGNED BY TAKAO SHIOTSUKA
DANCING LIVING HOUSE DESIGNED
BY A.L.X ARCHITECT
DINING AREA WITH MINIMUM
DESIGN ELEMENTS
A LOFT IN NEW YORK DESIGNED BY
ARCHITECT CLAUDIO SILVESTRIN. ABSTRACT
OR MINIMALIST. LIGHT, GEOMETRICAL
FORMS AND NATURAL MATERIAL ARE KEY
POINTS IN HIS STYLE .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe
http://new-design-times.com/article/articleC47.php?ID=47

3. BARCELONA PAVILION:1928-29
PURE AND OPEN
SKIN AND BONES"
ARCHITECTURE
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
BY MIES VANDER ROHE
CLARITY AND
SIMPLICITY
U SHAPED ENCLOSURE SERVE AS WATER BASIN AND CONNECTS
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. ONE OF THE ENCLOSURE HAS WORLD
FAMOUS STATUE
http://architecture.about.com/od/architectsaz/p/vanderrohe.htm
FUNCTION
INDUSTRIAL STEEL
AND PLATE GLASS
FREE-FLOWING
OPEN SPACE
http://www.jasonmkelly.com/2013/09/30/mies-van-der-rohe-barcelona-pavilion/
•DESIGNED FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION IN 1929.
•WAS DESTROYED IN 1930 AND REBUILT IN 1986.
•“VOICE TO THE SPIRIT OF A NEW ERA.”
•MEANT TO REPRESENT A NEW, MODERN, AND INTERNATIONAL GERMANY.
•CLARITY, SIMPLICITY AND HONESTY.”
•CONCEPT-FREE PALN AND FLOATING ROOF
A SEQUENCE OF MARBLE AND GLASS
WALLS,SUPPLEMENTED BY CHROMED
COLUMNS,
SUPPORT A FLAT ROOF, WHICH SEEMS
TO
FLOAT ABOVE THE SPACE.
SIMPLICITY OF CONSTRUCTION, CLARITY
OF TECTONIC MEANS, AND PURITY
OF MATERIALS HAVE ABOUT THEM T
HE GLOW OF PRISTINE BEAUTY
ONLY A GLASS SKIN AND GLASS WALLS CAN
REVEAL THE SIMPLE STRUCTURAL FORM OF
THE SKELETAL FAME AND ENSURE ITS
ARCHITECTONIC POSSIBILITIES
REFLECTIVE COLUMNS APPEAR TO BE
STRUGGLING TO HOLD THE "FLOATING"
ROOF PLANE DOWN, NOT
TO BE BEARING ITS WEIGHT
WALL SURFACES DISPLACED
AGAINST EACH OTHER, RUNNING
PAST EACH OTHERS CONTINOUS
TURNABOUTS FOR VISITORS
SIMPLE RECTANGULAR
FLOOR PLAN WITH TRAVERTINE
PLINTH
SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Pavilion#Concept

4. 1950:FARNSWORTH HOUSE, PLANO, ILLINOIS
A WEEKEND RETREAT OUTSIDE CHICAGO FOR AN INDEPENDENT
PROFESSIONAL WOMAN - DR. EDITH FARNSWORTH. BUILT BETWEEN
1946 AND 1951.
AREA- 1,500-square-foot (140 m2)
A CENTRAL WOOD CORE CONTAINS SANITARY
FACILITIES AND CREATES A SEPARATION
BETWEEN THE KITCHEN,TWO BEDROOMS AND
THE LIVING ROOM.
THE PLATFORM IS NOT THE FOCAL POINT;
IT IS THE EMPTINESS AND BEAMS WORK
LIKE SCREEN TO SURROUND SPACE OF
HOUSE.
STEEL, LAMINATED GLASS PLATES
AND ROMAN TRAVERTIINE ON
FLOOR
AND DECK
THE DOMESTIC PLUMBING ELEMENTS
AND ALSO THE RAINWATER RUN-OFF
SPILL INTO A CENTRAL CIRCLUAR
CHEST
THE SEPARATION OF THE HOUSE FROM THE
LAND ON WHICH IT SITS BY PILLARS HAS BEEN
ASSOCIATED WITH AN IDEA OF PURITY, VERY
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE
GLAZING OF THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE
ALLOWS ONE TO PERCEIVE THE LANDSCAPE
IN WHICH IT IS INSERTED, BUIILDING AS PART
OF NATURE
.
IT HAS ALREADY BEEN INDICATED
THAT IT LACKS AIR CONDITIONING
AND THUS IN THE WARM
SEASONS, PRODUCES
GREENHOUSE EFFECT.
NO NATURAL VENTILATION
FOR CORE AREA

5. SEAGRAM BUILDING,
•THE BUILDING STANDS 515 FEET (157 M) TALL WITH 38
STORIES,
•COMPLETED IN 1958.
•IT STANDS AS ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF
THE FUNCTIONALIST AESTHETIC AND A MASTERPIECE OF
CORPORATE MODERNISM.
•IT WAS DESIGNED AS THE HEADQUARTERS FOR THE
CANADIAN DISTILLERS JOSEPH E. SEAGRAM'S & SONS.
MATERIALS
•CURTAIN WALL OF GLASS AND BRONZE IN THE FRONT DUE TO
THE FIRE LAW IN FORCE IN 1954, AT THE TIME OF CONCRETE
CONSTRUCTION WAS USED AS A STRUCTURAL MATERIAL, BOTH
OUTSIDE AND INSIDE.
•IT IS A RECTANGULAR BUILDING
SUPPORTED ON PILES
BLINDS
IT WAS EVIDENT THAT A BUILDING OF SUCH
HEIGHT WOULD HAVE A HUGE AREA OF BLINDS,
WHOSE USERS TEND TO UPLOAD OR
DOWNLOAD THEM AS THEY LIKED.
•ELEVATION OF THE
BUILDING ACHIEVES
ITS EXPRESSIVE
PERFECTION,AND IS
VERTICALLY
EMPHASIZED..
SOURCES- www.wikipedia/seagram.org
www.archdaily.com
MAIN BUILDING
PLAZA
THE OFFICE SPACES ABOVE THE LOBBY,
FURNISHED BY PHILIP JOHNSON, HAVE
FLEXIBLE FLOOR PLANS LIT WITH
LUMINOUS CEILING PANELS.
THESE FLOORS ALSO GET MAXIMUM
NATURAL LIGHTING WITH THE EXTERIOR
BEING GLASS PANES OF GRAY TOPAZ THAT
PROVIDE FLOOR-TO-CEILING WINDOWS
FOR THE OFFICE SPACES.

6. 1951: LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS, CHICAGO
• 860–880 LAKE SHORE DRIVE IS A TWIN PAIR OF GLASS-AND-STEEL APARTMENT TOWERS ON N. LAKE SHORE
DRIVE ALONG LAKE MICHIGAN IN THE STREETERVILLE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
• CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN 1949 AND THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED IN 1951.
• THE 26 FLOOR, 254 FT (82 M) TALL TOWERS WERE DUBBED AS THE "GLASS HOUSE" APARTMENTS.
• THE TOWERS WERE NOT ENTIRELY ADMIRED AT THE TIME THEY WERE BUILT, YET THEY WENT ON TO BE THE
PROTOTYPE FOR STEEL AND GLASS SKYSCRAPERS WORLDWIDE.
APARTMENTS EMBODY A MODERNISTIC TONE
WITH THEIR VERTICALITY, GRIDS OF STEEL AND
GLASS CURTAIN WALLS (A HALLMARK OF MIES’
SKYSCRAPERS), AND COMPLETE LACK
OF ORNAMENTATION INDICATING MIES’ MOTTO
OF “LESS IS MORE”.
NO NATURAL LIGHT
AND VENTILATION HAS BEEN
PROVIDED TO CORE AREAS
THE MULLIONS ON BUILDING
REFLECT THE INNER
STRUCTURE AND GIVE
TRUTH TO THE AESTHETIC OF
THE BUILDING.
SOURCES –www.wikipedia.lakeshore/com
www.mies.buildings/lakeshore.org
LARGE LIVING AREAS

7. ASSOCIATED STYLES
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES FOLLOWED ALONG THE LINES OF LESS IS MORE
INTERNATIONAL STYLE
THE MOST COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF
INTERNATIONAL STYLE BUILDINGS ARE SAID TO BE –
o RECTILINEAR FORMS
o LIGHT, TAUT PLANE SURFACES THAT HAVE BEEN
COMPLETELY STRIPPED OF APPLIED ORNAMENTATION AND
DECORATION.
o OPEN INTERIOR SPACES.
o A VISUALLY WEIGHTLESS QUALITY ENGENDERED BY THE USE
OF CANTILEVER CONSTRUCTION.
o GLASS AND STEEL, IN COMBINATION WITH USUALLY LESS
VISIBLE REINFORCED CONCRETE, ARE THE CHARACTERISTIC
MATERIALS OF THE CONSTRUCTION.
THE TRANSPARENCY OF BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION (CALLED THE
HONEST EXPRESSION OF STRUCTURE), AND ACCEPTANCE OF
INDUSTRIALIZED MASS-PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES CONTRIBUTED
TO THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE'S DESIGN PHILOSOPHY.
TOWER C OF PLACE DE VILLE
OTTAWA , CANADA
Seagram Building
New York City
Major Contributors to the International Style
o WALTER GROPIUS
o LOUIS KAHN
o LE CORBUSIER
o LUDWIG MIES VAN DER
ROHE
o I.M. PEI
o LLOYD WRIGHT
VILLA SAVOYE-- LE CORBUSIER
Bauhaus -Walter
Gropius
PERISTEIN HALL
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY
LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE